Developing online content : the principles of writing and editing for the Web

An all-in-one resource on writing, organizing, and delivering Web content
After nearly a decade of experimentation, Web professionals now know that bells and whistles alone do not make a successful Web site. More than anything, strong and seamlessly integrated content attracts customers and keeps them coming back. Coauthored by a new media development expert and an award-winning writer, this book arms professionals with a complete blueprint and a set of best practices for writing, organizing, and delivering Web content. A one-stop resource for Webmasters, content developers, project managers, and editors, it covers all the bases-from key technical considerations to the principles of professional copywriting.
Companion Web site includes resource listings and updates.

• Author Biographies p. xi
• Acknowledgments p. xiii
• From the Authors p. xv
• Chapter 1 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Web p. 1
• The Informational Site: Uncharted Territory p. 2
• This Book Is for You if p. 3
• What You'll Learn p. 5
• Online Writing/Editing Challenges p. 5
• Career Advice p. 6
• Resources to Further Your Knowledge p. 6
• Examples, Exercises, and Links on Our Web Site p. 7
• Getting from There to Here p. 7
• Back in Them Olden Days p. 7
• Fast Forward to Today p. 8
• New Roles for Writers/Editors p. 9
• The Web Is a New Frontier p. 10
• Making A Difference: Your Contribution p. 12
• You and the Process p. 13
• How Much Technology Do You Need to Know? p. 18
• Getting Work p. 21
• The First Step: Surf, Surf, Surf p. 21
• What Employers Want: The Job Ads p. 21
• Know the Tasks p. 26
• What's Next? p. 28
• Resources for This Chapter p. 29
• Chapter 2 Audience, Audience, Audience! p. 31
• The Bubble Syndrome p. 33
• In-House Language p. 34
• Meet the Online CIA p. 35
• The User Prism p. 39
• Is Reading Print Different than Reading Web Text? p. 40
• De-Naturalizing Content p. 40
• Visualizing Users p. 44
• Thinking Global p. 45
• Text in the Context of Design and Navigation p. 48
• Is Designing for the Web Different than Designing for Print? p. 49
• Technology and Presentation p. 49
• A Question of Accessibility p. 49
• Typos and Other Gremlins p. 53
• Why Do Users Read (So Fast)? p. 54
• Precomputer Knowledge Seekers p. 55
• Living in the Information Age p. 56
• To Sum It Up p. 59
• Resources for This Chapter p. 60
• Chapter 3 Organizing a Web Site: "Elementary, My Dear Watson" p. 63
• Organizational Basics p. 64
• Architecture [right arrow] Navigation [right arrow] The Gooey (GUI) p. 66
• Information Architecture (IA) p. 67
• Navigation Design p. 69
• The Graphical User Interface (GUI), or The Gooey p. 70
• Getting Started p. 71
• Find the Right IA Model p. 72
• Choose Navigation Priorities p. 75
• The Case of the Chaotic Content p. 76
• Mind-Mapping: IA Revealed p. 78
• The Site Structure: Solving the Mystery p. 81
• A Tale of Two Web Sites p. 88
• Navigation Patterns p. 92
• Navigation Links p. 93
• How Many Clicks to Content? p. 94
• Site Maps p. 94
• Web Detection p. 95
• To Sum It Up p. 97
• Resources for This Chapter p. 98
• Chapter 4 E-Rhetoric: A New Form of Persuasion p. 101
• Death of the Author? p. 102
• Hypertext Theories p. 102
• The Futurists p. 104
• Rhetoric Returns! p. 104
• A New Definition p. 106
• But Whither Fact and Accuracy? p. 107
• E-Rhetoric and the Drive-Thru Reader p. 109
• The Four C's of Quality Web Content p. 110
• Credibility p. 111
• Clarity p. 114
• Conciseness p. 117
• Coherence p. 121
• The Small Stuff Counts p. 128
• Make Microcontent Meaningful p. 128
• Conjunctions: Those Old Standbys p. 129
• To Boldly Go...? p. 132
• To Sum It Up p. 132
• Resources for This Chapter p. 134
• Chapter 5 Is Seeing Believing? The Art of Visual Rhetoric p. 137
• "A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words" p. 139
• What Is an Image? p. 140
• What Do We Really See? p. 143
• Don't Let Gestalt Get You Down p. 145
• The Gestalt Principles p. 147
• How You Can Help p. 149
• The Psychology of Art p. 150
• Perception as Cognition p. 150
• Vision Is Selective p. 151
• Fixation Solves a Problem p. 151
• Discernment in Depth p. 152
• Shapes Are Concepts p. 153
• Perception Takes Time p. 154
• How You Can Help p. 155
• Visual Semio-What? p. 156
• The Image Act p. 156
• Social Distance p. 159
• Perspective and Angles p. 160
• How You Can Help p. 164
• Design Tips from Designers p. 165
• To Sum It Up p. 167
• Resources for This Chapter p. 167
• Chapter 6 Links, Logic, and the Layered Reader p. 171
• Brain Links: From Apples to Muffin Tins p. 172
• The Web Site: A Network of Associations p. 175
• The Writer/Editor as Arranger p. 176
• Macroarranging: The Main Navigation Links p. 176
• Microarranging: Embedded Links p. 177
• The Rhetoric of Departure and Arrival p. 181
• Types of Associative Links p. 185
• Authorizing p. 185
• Commenting p. 187
• Enhancing p. 188
• Exemplifying p. 188
• Mode-Changing p. 189
• Referencing/Citing p. 190
• Self-Selecting p. 190
• Intranet E-Orientation: A Case Study in Associative Links p. 191
• Highlighting Employee Policies p. 193
• Building a Learning Culture p. 193
• The Manager's Orientation Toolkit p. 196
• The Launch p. 196
• Tips to the Process of Linking p. 197
• To Sum It Up p. 200
• Resources for This Chapter p. 201
• Chapter 7 Writing/Editing for the Web Page; Writing/Editing to the Web Screen p. 203
• Is a Web Page Really a Page? p. 205
• Starting with a Splash p. 205
• Navigation Pages versus Destination Pages p. 205
• How Many Screens Does It Take? p. 208
• The Web Page: A Rhetorical Unit of Content p. 210
• Credibility Basics p. 211
• The Page as Persona p. 211
• Creating Page Personalities p. 215
• "We" versus "You" p. 217
• The Web Screen: A Flexible Unit of Space p. 219
• Those Baffling Browsers p. 219
• Users' Monitor Technology p. 220
• Can You Count on Word Count? p. 221
• To Scroll or Not to Scroll p. 226
• The Internally Linked, Scrollable Web Page p. 228
• Scrolling and Memory p. 228
• Scrolling Considerations p. 233
• Writing/Editing Nuts and Bolts p. 234
• The Editorial Style Guide p. 234
• A Note About Proofreading p. 241
• Keeping Track of Web Pages p. 242
• To Sum It Up p. 244
• Resources for This Chapter p. 245
• Chapter 8 Content + Technology: A Surprising Alliance p. 247
• Make the Technology Transition p. 248
• Adjust Your Mind-Set p. 248
• Think Techno-Creative p. 249
• Technology Basics p. 249
• The Web Production Team p. 250
• User Technologies: From Browsers to Players p. 252
• Making Audio/Video Decisions p. 255
• Different Ways to Deliver Content p. 257
• Real-Time Delivery Tools p. 257
• Web Pages versus One-Stop Documents p. 259
• Online Forms p. 260
• E-Mail Broadcasts p. 261
• Print-Out and E-Mail Buttons p. 262
• Build Up Your Tech Vocabulary p. 262
• More File Formats p. 263
• Scripting and Programming Languages p. 263
• Making Sites Visible: Web Searching p. 263
• Web Search Engines and Directories p. 265
• Titles, Links, Metatags, and Meta Descriptions p. 268
• To Sum It Up p. 271
• Resources for This Chapter p. 271
• Chapter 9 Keep CALM: Content and Logical Management p. 275
• The Many Faces of Content Management p. 277
• Managing for Users p. 278
• What Is Information Quality? p. 279
• User Interface Economics p. 280
• The Content Management Process p. 282
• Building the Team p. 283
• Developing a Strategy p. 284
• Making Plans p. 286
• Good Policies from the Get-Go p. 289
• Accessiblity Policies p. 289
• The Long-Term View: Rebuilding and Maintaining p. 292
• Big Site Basics p. 293
• The Evolution of Knowledge Bases p. 293
• Time for More Technology? p. 294
• Think Global; Act Local p. 297
• What Is Localization? p. 299
• When Going Global p. 301
• International English or "What's in a Word?" p. 301
• Culturally Correct Design p. 303
• Translation Techniques p. 305
• To Sum It Up p. 309
• Resources for This Chapter p. 310
• Chapter 10 The Business of Web Writing/Editing p. 313
• First Steps p. 314
• "Where Do I Start?" p. 315
• "How Can I Break In?" p. 316
• Freelance Pros and Cons p. 319
• Being Business-Wise p. 320
• First Meeting Qs and As p. 321
• Setting Your Fees p. 322
• Invoices and Payments p. 329
• Proposals and Contracts p. 331
• Make-It or Break-It Relationships p. 336
• To Sum It Up p. 337
• Resources for This Chapter p. 339
• Chapter 11 After Words and For Words p. 343
• The Wireless Web p. 344
• Convergence p. 345
• Virtual Reality p. 345
• Personalization p. 345
• The Semantic Web p. 346
• Internet 2 p. 246
• To Sum It Up p. 347
• Appendix HTML Codes for Special Text Characters p. 349
• Glossary p. 355
• Bibliography p. 363
• Index p. 375